Ignition-controlling apparatus.



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IGNITION CONTROLLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION mio sEPT.11.1915.

IlNITED STATES VAIREl ALFRED FYNN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TWAG't-T MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPGRTMJQ.;u'.

SOITEI.

Application filed September 11, 1915.

.To all 'Lv/tom t may concern:

Be it known that I, VALRE A. FYNN, a subject of the King of England,residing in the city et St. Louis, State of Missouri,

United States of America, have invented a i proved means forautomatically timing the spark, so as to take care of all speed and loadconditions.

irrespective of the load on the engine, the ignition spark should beadvanced With increasing speed, and this advance should compensate forall mechanical and electromagnetic lags due to the constitution of theignition system. Irrespective of the speed, the ignition spark should beretarded with increasing' load, that is, With increasing engine torque.In a perfect spark-control system the rate of Haine propagation shouldalso be fully taken care oi". N ovv this rate depends in the main- (l)On the quality of the mixture; in other Words, on the proportion of airto fuel;

(2) On' the quality of the fuel;

(3) @n the degree of mechanical compression Within the cylinder;

(4) On the cylinder temperature; and

(5) 0n the location of the spark gap with reference to the main body ofthe compression chamber.

In carrying out my invention I make the timing or" the ignition sparkdependent on the speed ot the engine, for instance by means of acentrifugal device operated by the engine, and I simultaneously make itdependent on the opening of the fuel valve.

The quality of the explosive mixture depends on the construction of thecarburetor, on the opening of the fuel vulve, and on the speed'of theengine. The cylinder temperature and the location of the spark mayusually be taken as constant. The degree of compression is directlydependent on the.

fuel valve opening, and depends to some extent on the speed of theengine. I therefore prefer to so adjust the in'fiuence of theSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 20, 191?.

Serial No. 50,140.

centrifugal device, or the like, on the timing of the ignition spark,that all mechanical and electromagnetic lags will be taken care of, asWell as theK influence of the speed on the quality of the mixture and onthe degree of compression, in other Words, on the rate of flamepropagation, and I further v prefer to so adjust the iniiuence of thefuel valve opening on the timing of the ignition spark that it Will takecare of all torque conditions and also make the necessary correctionrequired by the change in the rate of llame` propagation due to a changein the quality of the mixture consequent on the degree to which thevalve is opened and the manner in which the carburetor acts under suchconditions.

My invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawing, which diagrammatically represents one embodiment of myinvention in connection with a battery ignition system. The primarycircuit of this ignition system comprises the storage battery 13, theprimary 14 of an ignition coil, and an interrupter mounted on a base 2,freely movable about the enginedriven shaft 7. To the shaft 7 is keyedthe cam l2 adapted to cooperate with the lever 8 of the interruptor andthus break the primary ignition circuit at the contacts l0, 11, againstthe opposition of the spring 9. The spring 9, the lever 8, andthestationary contact il are all ixed to the movable base 2, which base isnormally under the control oi' a spring 3. The movement of the base 2 inthe direction in which itis impclled by the spring 3, is limited by thestop 6 coperating with the projection 5 of said base.

The secondary or high tension ignition circuit comprises the hightension Winding l5 of the ignition coil, one end of which is groundedWhile the other 'is connected to the engine-driven member of thedistributor, the stationary contacts of which are connected to theinsulated terminals of .the various spark gaps, 16, l?, i3 and 19". Theother terminals of 'these spark 'gaps are grounded.

The base 2, on which the interruptor contacts are located, is providedWitha pulley 2l integral therewith and to which is fixed, at the point22, a cable 23 connected by Way of the pulley 24 to a iion-revolublemember 25. This member 25 is under the influence of a centrifugal devicelocated on the shaft 29 and driven from the engine by means of the shaft26 and the gear wheels 2l, 23. 'llhis centrifugal device'comprises thesleeves 30 and 32 and the weights 3l connected thereto. rlhe sleeves arelongitudinally movable along the shaft 29, but are forced to revolvetherewith because of the feather 36.y 'lhe sleeve 32 is maintained inthe same position along the feather 3G by means of a pin formed integralwith a lever 37 pivoted at 33 and controlled by a handle 'llliis pinengages a fork 34 attached to a ring 33 controlling the longitudinalmovement of the sleeve 32 but leaving saine free to revolve. The weights3l of the centrifugal device are pivotably connected to the sleeves 30and 32 by means of'suitable rods and joints, to permit their distancefrom shaft 29 to vary under the influence of centrifugal force. Themember 25 leaves the sleeve 30 free to revolve, lout is forced to followthe longitudinal movements of said sleeve. With the sleeve held in acertain position by the handle 35, the position of the base 2 andtherefore of the interrupter lever 8 with relation to the cam 12, willbe dependent on the position of the weights 3l of the centrifugaldevice, in other words, on the speed of the engine, and will occupy theposition shown in the ligure, when the engine is at rest. The lever 37,under the control of the handle 35, is movably connected at its otherend to a rod 3f), which controls the fuel valve of the engine. In theposition of the handle 35 shown in the ligure, the fuel valve issupposed to be wide open. A clockwise movement of the base 2, away fromthe stop G, advances the ignition s arks. A movement in the oppositedirection therefore retards the ignition sparks.

The mode of operation of this device is as follows:

llt is seen that the position of the base 2 carrying the interruptercontacts l0 and ll, is dependent on the position of the handle 35controlling the fuel valve, and on speed of the engine which causessleeve 30 to` move independently of sleeve 32. 'llhe movement of thehandle 35 controlling the sleeve 32, is able,` at any time and quiteirrespective of the speed at which the engine is running, to n determinea certain amount of advance or retardation of the ignition spark. Quiteirrespective of the position of the handle 35 andtherefore of theopeningof the fuel valve, the centrifugal device'controlled by theweights 31' is also, at all times, able to impart a certain movement tothe base 2 corresponding to an advance or a retardation of the ignitionsparks. Assuming now that the handle 35 be moved in a counterclockdirection, as indicated by the arrow 40, so as to almost close the fuelvalve, then the sleeve 32 willl be raised to its highest position, andthe base 2, together with the relevos interrupter contacts 10 and 1l,will be moved to a corresponding degree in a clockwise direction. lf theengine be now started, weightsl 31 will fly out, raise the sleeve 30,and thus propel the base 2 far-` ther in a clockwise direction,` againstthe action of the spring 3, until the ignition sparks have been advancedto a degree which will yield best results at the speed corresponding tothe position then occupied by tlie weights 3l. lf the engine is notcalled upon to perform o-utside work, lout the fuel valve is openedwider by moving handle 35 in a clockwise direction, then-this movementwill cause the base 2 to move in a counterclock direction, thuscausingthe, ignition sparks to lag to an amount corresponding to the increasedtorque developed by the engine; but this increased torque will increasethe speed, the weights 3l will fly out and turn the base 2 in aclockwise direction, thus causing the ignition sparks to be advanced toan extent corresponding to the increase in speed. Should the engine beloaded at this stage, then its speed willdecrease, the weights 3l willpush the sleeve 30 downward, and correspondingly retard the ignitionsparks. lf the speed of the engine is brought back to its original valueby moving the handle 35 in a clockwise direction and thus opening thefuel valve a little wider, then the Weights 31 will resume theiroriginal position with respect to sleeve 32, but the latter will not nowproduce as large a spark advance as was previously the case, becausey ofthe now lower position of the sleeve32.

Summing up the operation of my improved means for controlling thetiming'of the sparks, it will be seen that, with the engine runninglight, at its slowest speed, the' fuel valve will be nearly closed andwill produce as great a spark advance as it is able to, whereas thecentrifugal device will retard the spark as much as lies within itspower. With the engine running light, at its highest speed, the fuelvalve will be open to a larger extent and will produce somewhat lessthan the maximum spark advance which it is able to control.Simultaneously, the centrifugal device will produce the maximum sparkadl vance within its power. WV ith the engine developing its maximumtorque and running at its slowest speed, the fuel valve will be fullyopen, or nearly so, and will 'produceI the maximum spark retardationitl-is able to produce, while at the same time the centrifugal devicewill do likewise. ll ith the engine developing the highest possibletorque, at the highest speed, the fuel valve will be fully open,producing its inaiimuin of spark retardation, whereas the centrifugaldevice will be responsible for the maximum spark advance it is able toproduce. lln all cases the actual timing of the spark will depend on theposition of the interrupter contacts 10 and ll resulting from thecombined influences of the fuel valve controlling lever and of the speedof the'engine. `In order to achieve the best possible results over thevwhole range ofthe operation of a given type of engine, this apparatusmust, of course, be adjusted to take care of the peculiarities of saidengine. It will seldom, if ever, be suiiicient to make the movement ofthe interrupter contacts 10 and 11 directly proportional to the speed ordirectly proportional to the fuel valve opening. The necessaryadjustments can be made in a manner well understood, by suitablydesigning the centrifugal device itself. Another Way of making theldesired adjustment is to suitably vselect the mechanicalinterconnection between the actuating member of the centrifugal deviceand the timer, for instance, by making the pulley 21 of a shapediffering from the circular. Similarly, the influence of the valveopening on the timing; can be made to depart from proportionality to anydesired extent by suitably selecting the mechanical means and theirrelative locations for transmitting the movement of the fuel valve tothe timer, irrespective of the manner in which this fuel valve isactuallycontrolled. The means shown in the figure are of this nature.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. The combination withan internal combustion engine, of a fuel controlling lever, a timerprovided with a movable member for varying the time of occurrence of theignition sparks, and a centrifugal device driven by the engine andhaving two parts whose relative position changes in response to speedvariation, one of said parts being connected to the fuel controllinglever and the other to the movable member of the timer.

2. The combination with an internal combustion engine, .olf means forvarying the time of ignition, fuel valve controlling means, a shaftdriven by the engine, two;

sleeves slidingly mounted on said shaft, a

centrifugal device connecting and adapted to vary the distance betweenthe said sleeves, means connectlng one of said sleeves to the l fuelvalve controlling means, said means being adapted to produce motion ofsaid sleeves in non-proportional relation to the movement of the fuelvalve, and means connecting the other sleeve to the means for varyingthe time of ignition.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal inthe presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

unimi: ALFRED rrNN.

lVitnesses:

lV. A. ALEXANDER, M. C. HUGHES.

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